Retailers getting better at email marketing - survey

Retailers in the US and UK are getting better at email marketing, though there is still room for improvement, according to a new survey.

Silverpop's 2007 Retail Email Marketing Study (PDF) looks at opt-in practices, email content and the unsubscribe procedures of 150 major retailers in the UK and North America.

The research also studied:

Opt-in practices

80% of retailers now offer email sign-ups on their homepages, up from 75% two years ago, though 35% of UK retailers hide registration information within the website, meaning they miss out on some registrations.

Companies are giving subscribers more choice than they did two years ago. Twenty seven percent offered multiple subscription choices, compared to 22% in 2005.

Retailers are also making things easier by requiring less personal info to sign up for emails. Sixty one percent requested just an email address, compared with 37% in the last study two years ago.

Content and creative

Email styles are more varied than in 2005 - 30% used a letter/newsletter format, 26% used the postcard style, while 19% featured a single pane of text and art at the top with rows or columns beneath.

Only 45% of UK firms are including browser links in promotional emails.

Unsubscribing

73% of companies send customers who want to opt out to an online form, though more (59%) are now making it easier with pre-populated forms.

One third of unsubscribe links led to options for customers to change their email preferences, compared with 12% in 2005.

However, unsubscribes are now taking longer, as only seven out of ten companies provided instant unsubscribe options. Allowing customers to unsubscribe easily is important, and should ideally be a one or two click process.

Making customers work too hard to opt out will have many reporting your emails as spam, which can have a negative effect with ISPs.

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